Good Times Gonna Come
by H. James
Summary: After ten years from their graduation, the whole gang reunites once again on a Thanksgiving Day at Peyton's house. Some surprises are in store for them. [Naley, Brucas and Jeyton]
1. Chapter 1

This is not my first fanfiction but even so I get nervous and anxious to know if you guys are reading and what you're thinking about it. So please, be so kind and review whenever you can! Thanks

Oh, and the title of the fanfic is the title of a song from _Aqualung_.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own OTH but if I did we would get picked for another season and I'd keep BL together forever just to make my sister super happy! Plus, I'd make sure that Nathan was shirtless 80 per cent of all episodes.

…

It's the year of 2016. It's been ten years since the 2006 Tree Hill High School Class graduated and it's been five years since their last meeting all together. For those past five years, our beloved group of five friends hasn't seen each other.

Nathan and Haley moved to New York after Nathan received a very generous offer from a basketball team and since Haley hadn't decided yet where she was attending to college, she took the opportunity and singed up for NYU.

Lucas had been living with Keith in Charleston since after he finished college. Life in Tree Hill didn't seem to have much to offer him after graduation, so he and Karen decided it was gonna be better for him to persuade his dreams elsewhere. He's been there for almost 6 years.

After her High School graduation and her civilized and yet heartbreaking break up with Lucas, Brooke moved to California to live with her parents again while attending to UCLA.

Even far from all her friends, Peyton decided to stay in Tree Hill. Odd enough, since her artistic abilities were something that could take her far from there if she wanted to. Instead she chose to stay in town and help her dad. Shortly after her High School graduation, Ellie got really sick due to her disease and passed away almost a month later. Peyton's dad even thou didn't have much contact with Ellie before she ever showed up in Tree Hill, developed a good and prosper relationship with her and felt, more than he expected, her lost. With all that, Peyton didn't even had the courage to leave her father alone, so she attended to the local University and continued her life there, as she could.

It was a warm Thursday afternoon and the turkey was starting to smell really good inside the oven while Peyton was walking around the kitchen, checking the other things around. She grabbed a bunch of plates and walked to the dinning room to place them around the table when the doorbell rang. Taking a deep breath, she walked calmly towards the door. The first guest. Fixing her dress – gosh, she hadn't been in one of those in forever – she reached the doorknob and turned it.

"Hello, friend" Brooke said with a smile on her face and as she had just seen Peyton the day before, although she hadn't seen her in at least five years.

Peyton responded the smile with another one. "Hi, Brooke" she opened her arms and hugged her friend for a long moment. Brooke broke the hug as she felt a bump against her.

"What's that? Peyton Sawyer got fat?" she teased as she took a better look at Peyton and gasped for a moment, "Oh my God... Peyton, you're pregnant!"

"I know" Peyton said taking one step back to make room for Brooke to come in.

Stepping in, Brooke couldn't take her eyes off the belly, "You're _so_ pregnant! When did this happen?"

"About six months ago" she said closing the door.

"C'mon, you know what I meant! Who's the lucky guy?" Brooke asked now more curious than intrigued.

Peyton shrugged while taking a sit and watching Brooke do the same, "There's no guy."

"Ok, I _know_ you couldn't have done this by yourself. Tell me!" she asked pleading.

"There's really no guy. I went to the sperm bank, chose a profile and a few weeks later... this happen" she said with both hands over her belly.

Brooke stared at her for a moment or two trying to figure her out, "You have _got_ to be kidding me with this."

Peyton started to laugh when they heard the beep from the turkey in the oven. She got up on a jump and pointed to the kitchen.

"Oh! Saved by the bell."

Watching Peyton leave the room, Brooke stood up and started to chase her to insist on the pregnancy story, but the doorbell rang again. She stopped halfway and sighed, talking to herself.

"I'll get that" she turned around and walked back to the living room while heard Peyton shouting.

"Would you get that?"

"I'm on it!" she replied reaching the door.

Still a little dizzy about the recent news, Brooke didn't even realized that was probably another guest at the door. She opened it up at once and froze at the sight of Lucas standing outside, just as surprised as she was. He was different. Not better or worse, just different to her. He had longer hair and his beard could've been better shaved. But that was all she could see as she couldn't exactly move for a couple of seconds 'til she saw him smiling warmly at her.

"Hi, Brooke."

"Lucas..." she said on a whisper and then felt his arms around her, hugging her. She closed her eyes on a sigh and put her arms around his neck, feeling his heart beating almost as fast as hers. They took a while on the hug 'til she realized they were standing there for more time than they could be before it started to get awkward.

"So..." she looked around, a little uncomfortable, "Why don't you come in?" she asked walking back in and waiting for him to do the same.

He walked in after her and as she was about to close the door, he glanced outside. "Actually..."

But before he could finish, they heard a voice shouting from outside.

"Wait!"

Brooke was holding the door open and couldn't quite believe her eyes. That was definitely her but why was she there? The girl jogged to the house and stopped by the door, catching her breath and holding a bottle of wine in the air.

"We forgot about the wine, hun!" she said looking at Lucas and then turned back to Brooke standing next to her, "Brooke!" she said surprised, "I can't believe this" she hugged her still holding the bottle of wine.

Brooke stood still as she was being hugged not sure what to do and just patted her on the back as she broke the hug, "Taylor..." she said mostly trying to convince herself and then turned to Lucas with a confused look, "She's Taylor."

Lucas looked down and then back to her, nodding, "Yes. I know that."

"Haley's sister, Taylor" she specified.

"We all know that" Taylor said smiling and showing her the wine, "Where can I put this?"

"Brooke? Who was it?" Peyton asked walking back in from the kitchen and seeing Lucas next to the dinning table.

"Hey, you!" she went to hug him.

He hugged her back and then turned to her belly, "How are you two?"

"We're good" she answered with a proud smile on her face.

Brooke frowned, "Wait a minute. You knew about her being pregnant and I didn't?"

"I came by to see my mom a couple of months ago and ran into her."

"Oh..."

"Hey, Peyton" Taylor said finally getting Peyton's attention who, so far, hadn't seen her there.

"Taylor?" it sounded more like a question while she glanced at Lucas, "Is she with you?"

Without waiting for Lucas' response, Taylor went to hug her, and that went pretty much like the one she gave Brooke. Still being hugged by Taylor, Peyton forced a smile at Lucas.

"What's going on?"

Taylor finally let her go and put the bottle of wine on the table. Brooke took a sit by the sofa praying for all of that just to be a bad dream. Peyton had a hand on her waist and was staring at Lucas who looked around but couldn't exactly hide. With Taylor by his side he started on a low tone of voice.

"We've been dating for almost a year now."

"Isn't this wild?" Taylor asked a little too hyper, "I've known him for like, ever, and never really saw him, you know? He was Haley's geek friend!" she giggled, "But now... what do you know?" she put one arm around Lucas' waist and hugged him tight.

Ignoring Taylor's comment, Peyton kept staring at Lucas, "Why didn't you tell me about her last time I saw you?"

"You didn't?" Taylor asked looking at Lucas, now more serious.

Scratching the back of his head and glancing at Brooke, quickly, Lucas shrugged to Peyton, "I don't know. I guess I just saw you for such a short time and nothing can beat the pregnancy thing, so... I must've forgotten. Or something."

"How could've you forgotten about your girlfriend?" Brooke asked as a tease but somewhat seriously staring at Lucas who looked the other way.

"Yeah, how?" Taylor asked frowning at him as well.

He scoffed embarrassed at them, "Ok I can't handle the three of you together" he took Taylor's arm from him and walked towards the kitchen, "I need some water."

Brooke crossed her arms against her chest and leaned back on the couch, frowning. Taylor glanced at her and then turned to the kitchen, "Excuse me" and left after Lucas.

Peyton took a sit next to Brooke and patted her on the leg, "So... how's the reunion so far?"

Shaking her head, Brooke pressed her lips together, "I can't believe this. How didn't I know about this? No one knew!"

"I know" Peyton shrugged, "I didn't know either."

"This can't be happening" she whispered.

The doorbell rang again. Both of them stared at the door and Peyton mentioned to stand up, but she was stopped by Brooke's hand.

"Allow me" she stood up and walked to the door to open it. She saw Nathan and Haley standing side by side. She quickly checked to see if they still had their wedding ring. Yes! Then she glanced at Haley's stomach. Double yes! They were still together and she wasn't pregnant.

"Oh, thank God!" she said before hugging them both at once.

They both laughed at the same time.

"It's nice to see you too, Brooke" Haley said patting her on the back.

She let them go and glanced at them again, "You guys have no idea how happy I am to see you like this, just like the last time I saw you" she turned to take a better look at Nathan, "Well, you used to have more hair around this area around here" she said pointing to his head, "But that's ok I guess."

"Thanks" he said now concern about his hair, "But how are you doing? You look the same as the last time we saw you too."

"That's cause I am! What's with people getting pregnant and dating your sister?" she asked looking at Haley who had a confused look.

"My sister?"

"Lucas' dating her!" she said on 'I know!' tone.

Haley gasped and Nathan wasn't much better either. She shook her head, "When did this happen?"

"Apparently, last year" she said turning her back to step inside again when she hear a little kid crying and turned around, "What's that?"

"I'll get her" Nathan said to Haley turning around and claiming down the porch's steps. He walked around the garden to the little girl who was sitting on the grass and crying loudly. Once she saw Nathan walking towards her, she stretched her arms so he could pick her up.

"Daddy!"

He took her in his arms, the two years old little girl, and walked back to the door where he found Brooke shaking her head.

"Oh, no, no..." but once she took a better look at the little girl she couldn't help smiling, "Oh God..." she put one hand over her heart, "Haley, she's beautiful."

"I know" Haley said proudly watching Nathan with their daughter, "Her name's Samantha."

"Hey, Samantha" Brooke baby voiced the girl who giggled at her, "Oh! She likes me!" she giggled back waving.

"Yeah, she does" Nathan took Samantha's chubby little hand and waved at Brooke, "Say hello to aunt Brooke."

"No, don't make her call me aunt! It makes me feel old."

Haley chuckled and took Brooke's arm as she stepped in with Nathan and little Samantha. They got to the living room and saw Peyton who stood up to greet them.

"Oh my God, your belly's adorable!" Haley said while putting her hands on Peyton's stomach.

"Hello, I'm up here" she said pointing to her own face.

Haley put one hand over her mouth, "I'm sorry!" and then hugged her, "I missed you so much."

"Thanks" she broke the hug but still held Haley's hands, "You're the first person who says that to me today and you're the last to get here."

"Oh, Goldilocks!" Brooke went to hug her, "I missed you too!"

"Yeah, right" Peyton laughed and then went to greet Nathan.

"And who's this adorable little person?"

With one hand on her mouth, Samantha silently stared at Peyton but started to giggled once she tickled her on the tummy.

"Hi, Sam" she teased the girl with more tickles.

"Hello!" Brooke put both arms in the air, "Am I the only one who doesn't have a subscription of the Tree Hill gossip news around here? How come I didn't know about Peyton being pregnant and Samantha being... created?"

"Well, you just live very far away" Haley tried to explain but Brooke shook her index finger.

"That's not a good reason."

"We're all family" Nathan started, "Me, Hales and Luke. So the family news kinda runs in the family and once it gets to Karen..."

"It gets to me" Peyton completed.

"But you didn't know about... Taylor" she said the last word with much concentration since it didn't seem to come out easily.

"That's cause Luke doesn't share" Haley said picking Samantha from Nathan and looking around, "And where's he anyway?"

Peyton pointed to the kitchen and Haley walked off without saying anything.


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: **Thank you all so much for your reviews! Yes, I know Lucas and Taylor is a freaky idea, but it'll be explained later on… so don't get mad at me just yet! Just give the story a chance and I promise you that everything will be just fine:D

xxxx

Entering the kitchen with Samantha on her arms, Haley found Lucas sitting by the kitchen's counter and with a lighter on his right hand that he had tapping against the counter. She cracked up a soft smile watching him.

"If the question you're thinking is rather you should light it up or not" she shook her head, "Don't."

Turning around to see her friend with her baby girl on her lap, Lucas smiled back at her and stood up to hug her, "I wouldn't." He smiled at the little girl, "How you both doing, little sis?"

"We're good" she said glancing at her daughter and then back at him, "And how's my big bro and his incestuous relationship with my big sis doing?"

He chuckled, "So you've heard..."

"Yes, I did" she forced a smile that quickly faded, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We haven't exactly been close for the last few years, so I didn't know how to tell you."

Sitting Samantha on the counter, Haley put one arm around her to support her and the other one she placed on her waist as she talked to Lucas, "It shouldn't matter how long we don't see or talk to each other, Lucas. We're friends first of all. That hasn't changed."

"Yeah, I know" he glanced down and then tilted his head staring at her, "And how's your husband?"

"Your brother" she corrected lifting her eyebrows, "is in the living room." She looked around, "And where's my sister?"

"In the bathroom."

"She can find her way back to us" she picked Samantha up and grabbed Lucas' arm leading him back to the living room where the others were.

They walk back together to the living room and Lucas went straight to Nathan and hugged him, patting him on the back.

"How you doing, little brother?"

Nathan hugged him back, "Pretty good. And you, man?"

"Good too" he sighed and glanced at Brooke who was sitting by the table but once she saw him looking at her, she stood up and walked off to the front porch. They all see it but no one says anything 'til Taylor's back from the bathroom.

"Oh, you're all here" she saw Haley and Nathan, "You're here too!" she went to hug Nathan who was closer to her and then she went to her sister who had the baby still with her, "How you doing, Haley?"

She just nodded, "I'm fine. And you?"

"I'm great!" she said with enthusiasm.

Peyton jointed her hands together and then turned to Taylor, "I'm going to need some help in the kitchen. Can you help me?" Without waiting for an answer she grabbed her arm and they walked off to the kitchen.

Samantha started to move on Haley's arm and whined, "Mommy..."

"Oh, I know, baby" she turned to Nathan, "She needs to take a nap. Can you grab her bag in the car? I forgot to bring along."

"Sure."

"And bring the pumpkin pie from the back sit too!" she told him as he left the house. Winking at Lucas, she left to find a room where she could put Samantha to sleep. As he was left alone, Lucas took the opportunity and calmly walked out of the house and met Brooke sitting by the porch's bench and dazing off. He took a sit next to her while she kept staring at nowhere.

"I thought it was gonna be nice to see you again." She finally broke the silence.

"And wasn't it?" he asked looking at his own hands on his lap.

"It was" she turned to face him, "It is."

He saw the look on her face and shivered inside. She was obviously disappointed at him and he couldn't bare that look on her face. He shrugged a little and shook his head.

"Brooke..."

"Please, Lucas" she interrupted him, "You own me nothing. I can't expect you to own me anything after all these years with basically no communication what so ever." She forced a chuckle with her last words.

They heard fast footsteps and saw Nathan jogging towards the house with the bag on his shoulder and something wrapped up on his hands. He passed by them and gave a nod before entering the house again. Lucas nodded too and then looked back across the street. Brooke put both hands next to her legs, on the bench while sighing. That was awkward. She never seemed to lose track of words around him, but she just guessed that almost ten years later, some things changed.

"So..." Lucas sighed.

She looked at him pressing her lips together. He put his hand inside his shirt through the shirt's collar and pulled his necklace out. Brooke took a look at it and recognized it from so many years ago. She smiled at him.

"It's the last thing I ever gave you."

"Yeah" he looked down on himself to look at the necklace hanging from his neck, "You told me it was a family jewel and it had to die in the family. So you were giving me to make sure we'd see each other again, even if it was just for me to give it back to you." He hesitated for a moment and then took the necklace from his neck and handed to her.

She shook her head, "Just keep it."

"It's ok" he smiled looking at her, "I'm not planning to leave you again anytime soon."

Looking down, Brooke smiled too and then looked back at him more serious, "What about Taylor?"

"Taylor and I have an understatement. She'd stick around to help me to move on with my life and I'd help her to... well, move on with hers. Get her a job and all."

"That's it?" she frowned, "But I thought you were..."

"We are" he added, "But that came later. It's nothing we planned or that we give much thought to or anything."

"Lucas" she didn't want to sound like she was encouraging him but she couldn't help herself, "You can't be in a relationship with someone if you don't care enough. It's just not right."

"Like you never did this before?"

"I did do it" she sounded offended, "But I don't anymore. It doesn't feel right."

He felt somewhat ashamed of the situation. He thought that by saying that he would make her see that Taylor wasn't what it matter to him. She was. But that clearly backfired. They stood in silence for a moment 'til Brooke's cell started to ring. Reaching out to her back pocket, she took the cell phone out and flipped it open to glance at the screen where both of them could read 'boyfriend calling'. She quickly closed it, but Lucas had already read.

"Is that the someone you care about now?"

She stared at the cell phone and then looked at him with a sorry look, "Lucas..."

He lifted one hand in the air to make her stop, "Good to see I'm not the only one who has moved on." He stood up to walk back in.

Standing up too, Brooke tried to stop him, "That's not fair, Lucas."

"Yeah" he turned around to walk away, "Whatever, Brooke."

He left and she stood there alone. She glanced back at the bench to pick her cell phone and saw the necklace there.


	3. Chapter 3

As Lucas came in, Taylor and Peyton came from the kitchen, holding a tray with the turkey on it at the same time. They're clearly struggling with the weight of the thing and Peyton shot a look at Nathan who was right next to them.

"Care to help the pregnant woman?"

"Oh, sorry" he rushed to pick up the tray from their hands and took to the dinning table.

Handing a big knife to him, Peyton grinned, "Wanna do the honors?"

"Do I?" he put one hand over his heart and faked being touched, "I'd love to."

She showed him her tongue and handed him the knife. Brooke was standing by the door and waved her hand to Peyton.

"Can I talk to you?" she said motioning the living room with her head, "Right here...?"

"Sure" she walked to Brooke, put one arm around her and leaded her to the living room.

Coming from the bedroom, Haley saw them heading to the couch.

"Peyton, I put Samantha on your bed for a nap... I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. But if you'd told me I'd show you Amy's nursery cause it's all done already. You could've put Sam there."

"Oh" she took a second to think about it, "But she'll be ok on your bed."

"You did arrange the pillows around her so she..."

"Won't fall down" Haley completed, "Yeah. I've been doing this for a while, Peyton. And she's two already, not the baby I wanted her to still be."

Peyton chuckled, "Right."

Turning to Nathan, Haley sighed glancing at the turkey, "That's a huge bird."

"Yep" he replied while trying to figure out how so start slicing the turkey.

Taylor walked next to Lucas and hugged him, "Hi."

He gave her a soft smile, "Hi."

"Where were you? I came to pick a cloth to Peyton and you weren't here."

He shrugged, "Just out for some air" as she rested her head on his chest he glanced over her to Haley across the table and gave her a look. One that he knew she would understand. She saw it and did understand. Quickly she walked towards them and grabbed Taylor by the arm, pulling her along.

"Wanna help me to bring the other stuff from the kitchen?"

Being pulled around, Taylor pouted, "Why is everybody going to the kitchen and dragging me along all the time?"

Nathan waited 'til they were gone to turn to Lucas and frown, "What are you doing with her, man?"

Not knowing exactly what Nathan meant, if that was a good thing or a bad one, he just shrugged, putting his hands on his pockets, "It's nothing serious."

"You do know she's bad news written all over her face, right?"

Lucas laughed and nodded, "Yeah, I know that. But it's not like that, I mean... I don't expect anything from her so she can't really hurt me. And I can't hurt her either."

"Yeah, you might say that" he said while finally cutting the turkey, "But that lovey dovey scene I just saw here, says otherwise" he stopped and pointed to the kitchen with the knife, "At least from her."

"I know" Lucas sighed taking a sit across the table, in front of Nathan, "I don't know what to do."

"Break up with her."

"I can't" he shook his head, "She's helping me with some stuff. It's gonna look like I didn't care."

"Ok, so _gently_ break up with her" Nathan shrugged.

"It's complicated" Lucas scratched his head.

"Alright" Nathan stopped and held the knife on Lucas' direction, "Tell me she's pregnant and this knife's gonna end up through your neck."

Lucas shook his head laughing, "That's not it. Trust me."

"Then what? What can possibly be that much that you can't break up with her and get back together with Brooke already?" he got a look from Lucas, "What? You guys drool over each other even now, a decade later."

"She's... kinda living with Keith" he sighed, "And me."

Nathan froze for a second, "What?"

"She had no place to live! So I offered my house so she could crash 'til she found a better place to stay but... she never left."

"Dude" Nathan shook his head, back to slice the turkey, "You're so screwed."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Lucas looked away and sighed.

Meanwhile, Peyton and Brooke were sitting on the living room's couch. Brooke put one hand over Peyton's belly and gave a half smile.

"How good is it?"

"What?"

"To know there's a whole new life growing inside of you."

"It's pretty awesome" Peyton said smiling happily. She put one hand next to Brooke's on her belly and glanced at her friend, "But something tells me that's not what you wanted to talk to me about."

"I talked to Lucas" she started softly, "And it didn't go very well."

"Why not?"

"Cause I gave him a hypocritical speech about how he shouldn't be with someone he doesn't care about" she stopped to take a breath, "And that's when my cell phone rang with my boyfriend calling me."

"You have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, but we just started dating, you know? It's nothing serious and... I don't know. I guess somehow I get what he's doing" she looked at Peyton a little teary, "It's not easy to be alone."

Peyton put one hand on Brooke's head and stroke her hair, "Honey... you should tell him that."

"I tried, but..." she took a deep breath not to cry, "I couldn't."

"You couldn't?" Peyton repeated and then smirked, "Well, is it possible that B. Davis is speechless for the first time ever?"

Brooke shook her head making a funny face, "I missed that. It's been such a long time since the last time you called me that."

"Yeah, but don't change the subject here, ok? You've gotta tell Lucas what you feel. Otherwise you'll spend another decade repressing your feelings. Is that what you want?"

"No..."

"And you know what? I've learned a thing or two about hiding your feelings. It doesn't do a very good thing to your heart. You gotta be honest."

"What if I'm not?"

"Then prepare that heart of yours, friend" Peyton put one hand over Brooke's heart, "Cause it's gonna be seriously damaged."

Brooke looked down and nodded quietly while Peyton stood up next to her and reached out for her hand and pulled her up.

"Let's go have dinner."

Standing up, Brooke walked by the fireplace and saw a portrait of a young girl smiling and striking a pose. She smiled at the familiar face the girl had.

"Hey, Peyton? Who's this?" she asked picking up the portrait on her hand, "Do I know her or something? Cause I feel like I do."

"Well, then you've got a hell of a memory!" she giggled next to her, "This is Jenny. Remember her? Jake's Jenny?"

Brooke opened her mouth as she acknowledged the fact, "Oh my God! You're right! Wait, how do I remember, she was just a little baby!"

"I don't know" Peyton shrugged.

"She's so big" she kept staring at the picture and suddenly snapped at Peyton, "You've been in touch with Jake?"

"Uh..." she took the portrait off Brooke's hand and put it back on its place, "Not really."

"Then how come you have a picture of Jenny all grown up? He accidentally mailed it to you?"

"Can we not talk about this?" Peyton asked turning around to leave.

Brooke rushed in front of her and lifted one hand in the air to make her stop, "No, no! You just told me to be true to my feelings and myself and all that crap, so spill it!"

"There's nothing to _spill_."

"Wait!" Brooke gasped, "Is Jake the father?"

"Who's father?" Peyton asked dumbly.

"Of your baby!"

"What?" she put both hands over her belly like somehow she was trying to protect her baby of something, "No!" she tried to walk around Brooke but she didn't let her.

"He is! Isn't he?" Brooke stared at Peyton and then smirked, "I knew it..."

"Brooke..."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"He's not!"

"Oh, no? Then how come you look as guilty as you do?"

Peyton stopped and sighed, closing her eyes, "I _really_ don't wanna talk about it. Okay?"

Seeing how her friend was really not willing to share, Brooke nodded against her will, "Alright."

"Thanks."

They both walked back at the dinning room where Nathan had already finished slicing the turkey and was sitting and chatting with Lucas.


	4. Chapter 4

In the kitchen, Haley was picking everything she could from the fridge and placing on the counter while Taylor was leaned against it, and watching.

"You sure you don't some help with that?"

"I got it" she said while continuing.

Taylor rolled her eyes, "Then why you want me here?"

"What?" Haley asked finally stopping to look at her.

"You know, Lucas' a big boy now. If he wanted to talk to his brother alone all he had to do was ask instead of putting up all this charade with you."

Haley sighed shaking her head, "It's not that. Look" she pointed to the cabinet above the sink, "I do need your help. Could you find some napkins for me?"

"Napkins?" Taylor repeated and then shook her head going to the cabinet. There was a long and awkward silence between the two sisters that was broken by Taylor's sigh. "So… since we're all back in town again, what do you think about a double date? Me, Luke, you and Nathan?"

Haley glanced at her and started to laugh while placing the food on a platter. Taylor scoffed and shook her head.

"You're laughing. I thought you'd be more serious about this."

"I'm laughing 'cause I can't believe _you_'re serious about this."

Taylor crossed her arms and frowned, "Why not? You're with Nathan and I'm with Lucas and we're all family so I don't see why not!"

Haley saw the look on her sister's face and her smile faded, "You're serious. Oh my God" she forced a laugh, "I don't know what's worse, this lame attempt of bonding or you trying to steal my life by chasing everyone I care about!"

"What are you talking about?" Taylor asked offended and starting to raise her voice.

"First Nathan and now Lucas… it's starting to become a habit, Tay."

"I'm trying to reach out to you, Haley!"

"Now?" Haley seemed amused even thou she wasn't really, "After all these years of you caring less and less about me or the rest of our family?" she stopped and took one step towards Taylor, staring at her, "If I remember you correctly, the day you left Tree Hill for the first time you said it was for good and without turning back. You hated here and you hated us. Isn't that right?"

"Look, I made a mistake, ok? I was young! But I came back later."

"And left again. And again."

Taylor had an angry look on her eyes, "You shutting me out didn't help either."

"When did I do that? I was _always_ here. I helped you when you needed! Even thou I shouldn't have."

"If it were for you I wouldn't even know I'm an aunt! I found out cause Lucas talked about once with me thinking I already knew it. I had to pretend my sister cared about me enough to call and say I had a niece. But no…"

"Oh, don't make me laugh more at you, Taylor" Haley almost shouted, "Like you cared! You never called, not once, during all those years to check and see if I was even alive! And don't make me start on our parents. Do you even know where they are?"

"You know what? My relationship with our parents it's only my business."

"You're sad, Taylor" Haley said setting the napkins on the platter next to the food and shook her head, "You always have been."

"Just because I'm not as perfect as you are, no one ever gave me credit for anything and just assumed I'd be a big mess in everything I did."

Haley stared at her sister for a moment and then sighed shaking her head, "Don't blame people around you for your own issues, Taylor. Honestly…" she leaned both hands over the counter, "No one ever thought less of you until you started to act like it. But even then, we just started to feel sad for you, but never thinking less. Just feeling sad cause we knew you could do better if you wanted to" she shrugged, "I guess now it's too late."

Holding back what it was clearly angry tears, Taylor put her hand on her back pocket and took out a box of cigarettes. She shot one last stare at Haley and walked towards the back door.

"I need a smoke" and left.

Back in the living room, Nathan had finished slicing the turkey and was now sitting by the table with Lucas by his side and Peyton and Brooke across the table from them, all talking. Haley walked in with the platter on her hands.

"The food has arrived" she said placing in on the table.

Lucas took a deep breath to smell the food, "It all smells so good, Peyton."

"Thanks" she replied smiling and arranging the food on the table to place the turkey in the middle of it.

Brooke peeked from over all the food and made a noise while smelling it, "What's in that turkey that smells funny?"

"Oh it's not the turkey" Peyton said picking up the tray with cranberries, "It's the cranberry sauce."

Covering her mouth with one hand, Brooke squeezed her eyes, "Ew! Put it away from me" she said waving the other hand in the air to make Peyton put the tray away from her.

"What's the matter with my cranberry sauce? It's good!"

"Brooke can't stand cranberry" Haley explained while taking the tray from Peyton's hand and placing it across the table.

"Since when?"

"Since ever" Brooke answered and turned to Haley, "Thanks Tutor Mom."

Peyton watched them a little confused, "How come I didn't know that?"

"Brooke and I were roomies for a while, remember? 24/7 living with her and you get to know all about her" she said while taking some mash potatoes and putting on her plate, "Well, not exactly 24/7 after she started dating Lucas again cause then…" she felt Nathan's elbow hit her rib lightly and stopped talking.

Lucas was staring at Brooke as she stared at her own plate. With a sigh she stood up at once and excused herself to leave the room.

"Sorry" Haley mumbled to Lucas as he shook his head.

"It's ok."

"Do you want me to go talk to her?" Haley asked already getting up, but Lucas made her stop and sit down again.

"No, I'll go."

Lucas followed Brooke back to the porch and stopped a few steps behind from where she was standing up. She had her arms crossed and was staring across the street and breathing heavily, but trying to calm down. Lucas put both hands on his pants' pockets and sighed quietly.

"Brooke…" he said on a whisper loud enough for her to hear.

"Don't, Lucas" she said still staring across the street avoiding looking at her, "Just don't say anything, ok? It's better this way."

He took a few steps foreword and stopped by her side, looking at her as she kept her lost stare. Arching one eyebrow, Lucas nodded slowly.

"Alright" he sighed again, "So we'll just stay here. In silence, if that's what you want."

There was a brief moment where they were indeed standing there in silence but then Brooke shook her head and turned to Lucas beside her with her arms still crossed and without much patience.

"Okay, we can't stay like this!"

"That's what you wanted."

"No, Lucas. That's anything _but_ what I wanted" she was now staring at him fully facing him and gesticulating, "This whole Thanksgiving reunion thing that we did and I thought it'd be an opportunity to start over. For us to start over again, nothing of this turned out to be what I wanted."

Lucas gave a genuine smile to her, like she had just said the one thing he was waiting the whole day to hear.

"That's what I wanted too, Brooke."

"Yeah, but" she crossed her arms again a little teary and looked away, "We can't have that."

"Sure we can" he said on a whisper and leaned to touch her face with one hand while smiling to her.

She closed her eyes for a moment to feel his hand against her cheek but then softly stepped back and shook her head to him.

"We can't. You're with Taylor now."

"But she doesn't mean anything" he said grabbing her by the arms to turn her back to face him again, "You do. You're the one who's supposed to be mine forever, remember?"

Mad with the fact that Lucas was underestimating his relationship with Taylor, because it meant a lot from Brooke's point of view, since she was the reason they couldn't be together, and with the fact that Lucas was willing to trade Taylor for her just like that, touched a nerve. It made Brooke flashback to years ago when he was willing to do the same but by trading her for Peyton. She smirked ironically.

"Me or Peyton? Cause you told that to her too, remember?" watching Lucas' reaction, she took two steps back and raised her voice, angry, "You should really review your idea of forever then, Lucas! 'Cause you can't have two of them!"

Standing by the opened front door, Peyton was watching the scene with one hand over her pregnant belly. Neither Lucas nor Brooke knew for how long she was there, but judging by the expression on her face, they could tell she heard more than she should have.

Sighing deeply, Peyton whispered almost to herself, "I can't believe this…"

"Peyt…" Brooke had a sorry look on her face and was now moving towards her friend by the door. But before she could reach her, Peyton quickly turned around and stormed inside the house. "Peyton" Brooke shouted walking in right after her. Lucas entered following them but as Brooke heard him calling out Peyton's name too, she turned around angry, "You stay here."

"But I want…" he couldn't finish the sentence cause Brooke had already turned around and left the dinning room, heading towards the room. He was about to follow her when he heard his name.

"Lucas?" Taylor came in from the kitchen, seeing her boyfriend chasing Brooke.

He turned around and faced her with a guilty look on his face.

"What are you doing going after her?"

"Nothing" he answered instantly and turned to Haley who was still sitting by the table next to Nathan with an urgent look.

"Don't look at Haley, look at me" Taylor said with her hands on her hips, but he kept staring at his friend.

Haley shook her head and waved one hand in the air, "Oh no. Don't look at me like I'm supposed to rescue you from the situation."

"I'm not" Lucas said looking straight at Haley afraid to see Taylor's reaction.

"Stop staring at me" Haley said on a tone of voice that sounded like she was about to laugh, "I'm serious now."

But unlike Haley, Taylor was pretty much serious and had her arms crossed now and was still staring at Lucas when she walked next to him.

"I asked you a question."

"Haley…" he called her again ignoring Taylor.

Getting serious too, Haley frowned, "She's right next to you, Lucas. Talking, you know?"

He closed his eyes and then turned to face Taylor, "What? I was going to talk to Peyton with Brooke. She's…"

"She's what? What can she be that needs both you and Brooke?"

"I don't know!" he turned around again, "Haley, c'mon" he was making a head sign to show he wanted to go to the room where Brooke and Peyton was.

"Don't Haley-c'mon me, Lucas" Haley said standing up and walking around the dinning table and leaning on a chair closer to Lucas and Taylor, "You can't treat her like this and expect me to help you. All and all she's still my sister."

Raising one eyebrow, Lucas scoffed, "Now you remember that?"

"This is not fair."

"Hey, don't talk to her like that" Taylor interfered and made Lucas laugh.

"Oh, now you two are bonding."

Haley frowned, "Why are you doing this?"

"We're best friends since forever and you hardly ever talked to your sister, any of them for what it matters, and now suddenly you're choosing her?"

"That's exactly my point! We do know each other since kids and the Lucas Scott I knew would never say the things you're saying now. What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing" he said finally calming himself down, "I guess I just changed. We all did."

"Some of us didn't" Haley said staring at him, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Is that right?"

"Yes."  
"So everything's fine the way they always were? With you and Nathan and all? Nothing different with you?"

Haley raised one eyebrow and Nathan leaned back to cross his arms against his chest while glaring at Lucas. Shaking her head, Haley sounded calm.

"Everything's the way everything always were."

Lucas shrugged, "So you didn't have a nervous breakdown a couple of years ago?"

Haley and Nathan exchanged looks and she quickly glanced at Taylor who was quietly standing close to Lucas and looking down. Nathan sat up straight on the chair.

"You don't know what you're talking about" Haley tried to sound firm.

"Oh, I do. My mom told all about it back then. Of course no one bothered to tell me anything, but then again I guess that's normal since 'family' in this family doesn't actually mean all that much" he turned to Taylor, "Right?"

"Lucas, please…" Taylor whispered trying to make him stop.

"What?"

"You don't know what happened, Lucas" Haley sounded a little teary but tried to keep her cool, "It wasn't something I wanted to share with anyone."

He nodded for a while, "I can see why you wanted to keep from people that you didn't want your own daughter anymore."

Haley felt her knees shake and leaned both hands on the table. Nathan suddenly stood up and stepped ahead from Haley, "That's it, Lucas. You've gone too far and you better stop now."

"That's not…" Haley tried to talk and Nathan put one arm around her while still staring at Lucas across the room.

Seeing Haley's reaction, Lucas shook his head and shrugged, "You see, Hales? We've all changed."

Taylor frowned and sounded angry, "You're such a jerk."

"Then what are you doing with me?" he asked back more angry than her and stormed out of the room, going out through the front door.


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile, Brooke had followed Peyton to the nursery. Truth to be told, Brooke didn't think about the affair Lucas and Peyton had all those years ago in a very long time. That fact didn't even bother her anymore since it was all in the past and she had forgiven them already. But that time she wanted to hurt Lucas, she wanted to make him relive that pain so he could mesure up to the pain she was feeling now by seeing him with Taylor.

Peyton was leaning both hands over the baby's crib and Brooke stood still right behind her, holding her own hands and trying to find a way to start apologizing.

"I'm sorry…" she said softly, "I didn't mean any of those things. I just wanted to hurt him and ended up being unfair to you. Well, both of you actually."

She was going to go on but Peyton's voice interrupted her, "That's why he left."

"What?" Brooke frowned, "Who left?"

Peyton turned around with one hand over her belly and tilted her head staring at her friend, "You don't have to apologize, Brooke. I didn't mind listening to that cause I know it's long behind us and it doesn't really matter anymore. Or at least it shouldn't." she looked down and took the pingent hanging from her necklace and started to play with her fingers, "Remember all that stuff of me and Lucas you found once when you were dating?" she waited for Brooke's nod and went on, "Well, when Lucas moved out he left all that at his mom's and one day I was helping Karen cleaning around and she found that box and gave to me. I don't know why I kept it. I guess it was just something to remind me of him. Of that time when we were so young and things…" she sighed, "Were definetly easier."

"But Peyton, what does that…"

"Jake found the box" she said trying to sound firm, "A few weeks ago. He was never the jelous type but somehow it did something to him" she shrugged with tears in her eyes, "So he left. We had this horrible fight… I mean, he fought with me and I don't even know why exactly. And then he left."

Brooke sighed and stared at her for a moment and automaticly glanced at her pregnant belly. Peyton gave a half smile, still teary.

"So you were right. It is his."

"Peyton, I…" Brooke tried to say something to comfort her friend but she couldn't quite find the words.

"It's ok" Peyton shook her head, "I don't even know why I told you all this."

"Nonsense, Peyton" Brooke's voice suddenly sounded determined, "If we don't trust in our best friend who are we gonna trust?"

Peyton smiled and Brooke went ahead and pulled her to a hug. Still hugged to Brooke, Peyton whispered, "Thank you."

…

Both girls return to the dinning room and find Nathan, Haley and Taylor sat by the table, with some weird looks on their faces. Brooke was about to ask them what happened when her cell phone rang on her back pocket. She picked it up, flipped it open and saw 'boyfriend' on the screen. Biting her lower lip she excused herself and walked towards the front door.

"Hey, hunnie. Yes, I'm fine. No, we haven't had dinner yet, but…"

She looked around and saw Lucas sitting by the porch's bench right next to her and staring at her in silence. Quickly she climbed down the small front steps and walked around the garden for a few seconds before hanging up and climbing them back to the porch. Noticing Lucas' cranky look, she got closer to him and stood up next to him, leaning her shoulder against the wall.

"I didn't mean to hurt you…"

"Yeah, you did" Lucas said calmly glaring at the other side of the street.

Brooke shrugged taking a sit next to him, "So I did. But I'm sorry even though."

He shook his head and turned to her, "It's ok, Brooke. I know you didn't mean that and besides, it was such a long time ago that I don't know how can that affect anyone anymore."

"I do" she mumbled under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing" she shook her head, "So… if you're ok with that, what's with the moping face?"

He looked down and sighed, "I was mean to Haley."

"Oh, c'mon. Couldn't be that bad" she said hitting his shoulder with her shoulder.

"She's pretty hurt."

She faced him for a moment, "Wait a minute. You were actually mean to Tutor Girl? You gotta go back and apologize then!"

"She won't accept" he said on a defensive tone.

"That's not possible. She's crazy about you."

"People change…" he whispered back to glare across the street.

"She didn't."

"But I did" he looked back at her with a sad look, "I wouldn't hurt her before."

"You would apologize" she took his hand, "Prove yourself wrong, Lucas."

"I will" he looked down and held her hand tightly, "For you."

Holding hands, they got back inside the house and stood by the living room where the others were still waiting for them. Lucas glanced around and saw them all behind the dinning table, Taylor included, and gently let go of Brooke's hand.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked looking at Haley.

She shrugged, "Whatever you have to say to me you can say it in front of my husband" she glanced at Taylor, "and my sister."

His eyes ran around the room and he stopped back at Haley nodding, "Alright. What I have to say it's for all of you anyway" he took a deep breath, "I want you to know that I didn't mean all those things I said before. I was angry at some stuff, I guess, and when I realized how much I missed all those years away from you… who used to be my whole life before… I kinda lost it. And I ended up saying things I didn't mean and hurt you and… it wasn't my intention."

As he stopped talking, Peyton placed both of her hands on top of each other over her belly and gave him a half smile.

"It won't kill you to say it, Luke."

Lucas looked down, half smiling and stood up again, "I'm sorry I was a jerk. And that I hurt you and…" his eyes stopped on Haley and Nathan, "that I wasn't there."

Haley rolled her eyes for a moment and walked around the table towards Lucas while shrugging, "As long as you promise me you won't do it again and we won't be appart this long ever again."

"I promise" he hugged her close to him.

"And I don't like this new Lucas version. You gotta go back to the old one" she said while holding his arms.

He nodded smiling, "Whatever you say, Hales."

"Alright!" Peyton clapped her hands together, "This is all so nice but if any of you are hungry just think of me who have to eat for two, ok?"

Brooke smirked and rushed to her friend and sat by the table next to her. Lucas walked next to Taylor who had her arms crossed and was waiting for him.

"Can you forgive me?"

She nodded, "It's okay. I know you didn't mean any of those things. Right?"

"Right" he repeated almost as if trying to convince himself.

They joined the others and sat by the table too. One by one they finished making their plates and were waiting for Nathan to finish serving the drinks to finally say grace and eat. That was when the doorbell rang once again. Brooke sighed as she put both hands on the table.

"Is this thanks-never day?"

Nathan quickly pushed his chair away from the table and got up, "I'll get that."


	6. Chapter 6

**_This is a shorter one, but I hope you guys will like it! Thanks for all the reviews. You guys rock! ;)_**

He made his way towards the door and fixed his shirt as he grabbed the doornob and turned it to open it. He frowned at the sight of the man standing on the other side of the door and shook his head confused.

"Jake?"

"Nathan?" Jake had the same confused look on his face.

"What are you doing here?"

"I live here."

Nathan caught his breath, "Right. You do?"

"Yeah. And what are you doing here?"

"I just came for dinner" Nathan said lifting both hands in the air.

Jake opened up a smile, "It's good to see you again, man."

"Yeah" Nathan smiled too and they hugged, tapping each other on the back, "I was gonna invite you in but since it's your place… feel free to do so."

They both entered the house again and Nathan closed the door behind them. The others on the table just stood still staring at them.

"Jake?" Peyton said on a whisper.

He looked around and gave them all a nod, "Hey guys."

They all mumbled a "Hey Jake" except for Peyton who stood still on her chair 'til he turned to her while putting his backpack on the coffee table.

"Can we talk?"

Peyton was going to say no cause she didn't know how to react but once she felt Brooke's hand on hers, she calmed herself.

"You should go" Brooke whispered to her.

Nodding, Peyton stood up slowly and walked to her bedroom, waiting to be followed by Jake. She entered the bedroom and took a sit by the head of the bed. Jake entered right after her and closed the door. He looked at her for a moment and took a sit by the edge of the bed. They were in silence for a moment or two 'til Jake finally spoke.

"Are you ok?"

She silently shook her head negatively while staring at the floor.

"Listen, Peyton…"

He tried to reach for her hand but she suddenly stood up and moved closer to one of the walls while shaking her head.

"No, Jake. If you're gonna say you're sorry don't even bother saying it cause what you did can't be fixed by that."

He stood up too and walked near her, "But I am sorry. I jumped into conclusions, I didn't listen to you, I was unfair."

"No" she walked away from him, across the room, "You were more than that. You didn't trust me."

"I know I didn't. I was jelous."

"Of what?" Peyton snapped, "Of Lucas?"

"Of you!" he tried to walk closer to her but she stepped back so he stopped, "You kept all those things of you and him and I thought… part of you was still with him instead of being with me."

"But" Peyton got teary but tried not to cry, "You already have me. All of me."

"I know I blew it" Jake ignored Peyton's attempt of getting away from him and finally grabbed both of her hands.

"You really hurt me" her voice cracked as she started to cry.

"I'm sorry" he couldn't bare seeing her like that and teared up too, "Can you forgive me?" he held one of her hands and put another hand over her belly while staring deep into her eyes, "Can you both forgive me?"

She looked down shaking her head as the tears fell down, "Jake…"

"I wanna come back, Peyton. For you and… for our baby."

He waited for Peyton's answer but she kept looking down and trying to calm herself as he kept one hand over her belly. She slowly put one of her hands on top of his and he finally smiled, "Jenny misses you, you know?"

Between the tears Peyton laughed and looked up to Jake, "I miss my Jenny too."

Jake pulled her closer and hugged her tightly. He took a deep breath and smiled her hair, closing his eyes.

"I'm never gonna leave you again."

Peyton felt him tighting the hug and sighed in relief, "Good. Cause I don't think I can handle watching you leave again."

…

Peyton came back into the living room, holding hands with Jake who had a shy smirk on his face. She stopped with him next to the table and smiled announcing.

"We're gonna have an extra guest."

Haley quickly stood up, "I'll get another set of dishes" and left to the kitchen.

Brooke smiled happily and clapped her hands, "Finally we're gonna eat some food! No offence, Jake, I'm so happy you're here with us, but I'm starving!"

Jake laughed and nodded taking a sit next to Peyton who was sitting at the head of the table. Taylor sat next to Jake and Lucas next to her. Brooke was on the other head of the table and on her left was a big baby chair, where Nathan had placed little Samantha a while before Jake arrived, Nathan sat next to his daughter and Haley next to her husband on the other side of Peyton.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Here it goes another chapter. Sorry for the delay, I was busy with real life stuff, you know… but anyway, thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will enjoy this one too!**_

Haley came back with the other set of dishes and displayed them in front of Jake who thanked her. She got her sit back by the table and before Brooke could dig in the food, she spoke louder.

"Wait! We have to say grace first."

Brooke frowned for a second but then turned to Peyton, "Oh! You're the hostess so you start!"

Sighing, Peyton nodded agreeing, "Ok…" she looked around the table, "this year I'm thankful for my friends, who proved to be my real family afterall" she stopped to smile running her eyes through the table, "We're not as close as we once were but we're still there for each other and that's the important thing" Brooke winked at her and she winked back, "I'm thankful for you all. Oh!" she put one hand over her belly, "And for my little unborn one too!"

They giggled and Peyton turned to Haley who sat up straigh, as preparing herself for a speech.

"This year I'm thankful for.. Karen" they all laugh, "I am! Through the year she was the one who kept us in touch. The one who kept us informed of what was going on with each other. If it wasn't for her I'd be... well" she turned to Brooke, "like Brooke today surprised at every 5 minutes" she giggled as Brooke stuck her tongue at her while Nathan and Jake laughed, "But I'm also very thankful for being here now with all of you."

Scratching the back of his head, Nathan started, "I'm always thankful for my family and for my friends but this year I'm more thankful for this reunion. All of us together again, like the old days" he stopped for a moment and then glanced at his daughter next to him, "Now our crew's getting bigger with Sam and the baby but I still hope this keeps happening every year. I'd be more thankful then."

Brooke opened up a smile to Nathan, "Well, I'm with Tutor Husband this time. I'm hugely thankful for this meeting today. You guys have no idea how much I missed you all and missed having you around for whenever I needed you" she hesitated for a second trying not to get teary, "You were the only family I had for such a long time that drifting appart from you was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. So you can just add up how thankful I am right now for being here, sat among you all" she shook her head slightly while turning to Peyton and forcing to smile once again, "I'm mostly thankful for Goldilocks for having the brillant idea of gathering us all here tonight. Thanks, best friend."

Peyton smiled back at her and mouthed a 'you're welcome'. There was a brief silence before Lucas started his grace.

"Uh..." he said a little unsure, "I never know how to say grace at Thanksgiving dinner cause it's just one brief moment for you to remember all the good things that happened to you during the year and be thankful for. I guess I'm just… thankful for all the goods and the bads, which summons up everything" he giggled, "I'm thankful for the goods for the obvious reasons but I'm also thankful about the bads cause they always teach us something. We just have carefully notice that" he quicky glanced at Brooke and then turned back to staring at the table, "Or we just might miss something... or someone, very important."

Taking the hint from Lucas' speech, Taylor raised one eyebrow as she stared at her own plate. She felt Haley's foot kindly kicking hers so she would say something.

"You guys seem to have so much more to be thankful for than I am" she said almost under her breath but then looked up to the table again, "But I guess I'm also very thankful for today. It was very... lightening" she carefully choose the words, "And I have to agree with Lucas and say I'm also thankful for the good and the bad. The bad moments definetly opens up our eyes if we pay attention" she glanced at Brooke and then at Lucas, "It opened mine."

The awkward silence that grew right after Taylor finished her grace was softly broken by Jake once he started slowly.

"Well, I...I'm thankful for Peyton's big heart as opposite of my small little brain" he giggled making Peyton smile, "For second chances" he finally said picking up his glass of wine and lifting it up a little, "Actually for third, forth... how many chances true love demands from us. I learned the hard way that the true love that we all seek isn't that easy to keep" at this moment Brooke shyly looked at Lucas who was already looking at her, "It's easy to find, but not to keep" she looked away but he kept staring at her, "It demands not only love but also respect, patience, trust and belief. Sometimes you have to believe on each other more than you do on yourself. That's when you learn how to keep it" he took Peyton's hand from over the table, "I'm thankful for what I've got."

Peyton took her glass of wine and raised next to Jake's, "I ditto to that."

They all raised their glasses together and toasted.

Finally they were having Thanksgiving dinner.

…

Dinner went well overall. It was now Saturday morning and eveyone was still in town for the weekend. Haley was at the park with Samantha who was playing at the sand bank. The little girl had a pink hat on her head and was wearing a yellow dress with tiny little pink flowers. Haley was sitting on a bench right next to the sand bank and was laying back, watching her daughter play. Walking straight towards them with her sunglasses on, Brooke was all cheery.

"Hey, Tutor Mom!"

Haley looked up to Brooke and put one hand over her eyes to block the sun as she smiled, "Hey, Tigger."

"Aw!" Brooke took a sit next to her and grabbed her arm, "I missed us bounding!"

"I did too."

They were in silence for a while as they watched Sam playing. Brooke sighed deeply, "She's a doll, Haley."

"Thank you" she said it proudly.

Samantha looked over to Haley and saw Brooke sitting with her. She quickly stood up and rushed towards them with her little arms opened.

"Mommy!" she got to Haley who picked her up and then she turned to Brooke reaching out for her, "Aunt Bwookie!"

Brooke laughed and took her on her arms, "Aren't you the sweetest little thing Aunt Bwookie has ever seen?" she tickled Sam's tummy making her laugh. She kept playing with the little girl, "You know, I love kids but I wonder if I'm ever gonna have one of my own."

"You will. You just have to find Mr. Right" she giggled, "Right?"

Brooke nodded smiling, "Right…"

"And maybe you already have" Haley said unsure and then squeezed her eyes as trying to remember something, "What's his name?"

"Oh" Brooke got it glancing around, "Owen. Yeah about him… I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"We kinda broke up."

"What?" Haley frowned, "When?"

"Yesterday."

'Oh… I'm sorry?"

Brooke shook her head, "No. You're glad that you're friend is with a clear conscience. It just wasn't working" Sam was playing with her fingers and Haley smiled at them.

"You know… coincidence or not, you're not the only one recently single."

"I'm not?"

Haley shook her head, "Lucas and Taylor broke up right after Thanksgiving dinner. Actually, she broke up with him."

"Really?" Brooke asked trying no to sound too interested.

"Oh c'mon!" Haley moved on the bench to sit facing Brooke, "Let's stop pretending nothing's going on cause we all know it is. Why don't you go talk to Lucas now?"

"I can't…"

"Why not? You're single, he's single. You're madly in love with each other and don't say you're not, cause you are. So what's the problem?"

Samantha had her head leaned on Brooke's chest and was playing with the necklace Lucas had given back to her and she was now wearing. Brooke looked down to the necklace and then back to Haley.

"Yeah, I guess we still have some things hanging on…"


End file.
